What is a Friend?
by Insomniac-with-coffee
Summary: Namine has always been in her room, left out of the outside world because of her abusive mother. So when she has the opportunity to escape, will she be strong enough to face the outside world and make something of herself and find what many people call friends?
1. Always Alone

**This story came to me when I was in a bit of a depression so the first chapters or some of them may be a bit dark and bloody but they become a lot lighter in the later chapters. You can tell by the dark words I used and the feelings that are invoked in this story when I was depressed so please don't take offence to this story. It was a way for me to get my feelings out when I wasn't feeling at my best. But this turned into a sort of therapy so I'm feeling slightly better.**

**I do not own Kingdom Hearts or their characters just this plot and some minor OCS**

**Chapter 1: Always Alone**

A small petite girl hugged her knees miserably and slowly placed her head on them. Her blond hair tumbled effortlessly onto her face and stuck to the fresh tears that were flowing down her pale cheeks. A quiet sob erupted from her chest, relieving the tightness that she felt around her heart a bit. She closed her eyes tightly, trying to stop the tears. Seeing was too much to bear now. She could barely keep going. She longed for someone to love her, cherish who she was, for who she was but all her life all she had received were scoldings and harsh beatings from her mother. She had been laughed at by both her mother's friends and enemies. She was a nobody in her mother's eyes. She was a nobody in anybody's' eyes. But what could she do. She was too shy to tell anyone, or maybe she was too scared.

In any case, she was not allowed to talk to anyone anyway. Her life was her room. A simple ten by eight feet room or closet that she had for a room. There was nothing but a small mattress, a few thin blankets, a single pillow, and her drawing supplies that she hid carefully underneath the floorboards so they wouldn't be discovered and confiscated from her. Her art was all she had, her one and only consolation from the crappy life she was having.

Suddenly, a single light source exploded from above, almost blinding the blond girl. She covered her eyes with the back of her hand and shielded her eyes from the harsh artificial light that became even more blinding due to the fact that the room was white. The girl quickly rubbed her eyes dry and stared at the doorway across from her. A slim figure stood by, blocking the view of the living room.

"Namine, dear," a sweet voice said calmly. Namine, the blond girl cringed in fear at the faux sweetness her mother was using. Namine backed away from the door until her back hit the white wall. Her mother laughed at her reaction and closed the door behind her.

"Namine, as you know, your sister's birthday is in a few weeks." Namine's hopes rose sky high. Maybe her mother would allow her to be at the party she heard once a year. Maybe she would be one of the laughing kids that Namine had heard from behind the closed door to her room. Maybe her mother was giving her more freedom now that she was turning fourteen too. "You know what you have to do. Stay put and do not make any noise. I don't want to tell our guest once again that we have a rodent, a filthy rat, in this house." Namine's hope dropped to the ground along with her heart. She was the rodent? The filthy rat? There wasn't anyone to deny that she wasn't.

Namine's mother sneered as she saw the small girl's cobalt eyes begin to water. She enjoyed making Namine suffer. The woman knew how to strike at the girl's hope, when to attack, and when it would crumble. She knew what Namine treasured and how to strip the girl of it. The woman had refused to let any happiness to come close to the blond girl.

Namine's mother smirked one last time before slamming the door shut behind her and locking it tight. Namine only stared at the now darkened doorway, where her mother had stood seconds before. All her life, all Namine had ever felt inside her ever shriveling heart, if it was even possible anymore for it to get any smaller, was hatred, not for her mother, no she couldn't hate her mother no matter how hard she tried, but hatred for herself. She hated her life, herself, for not being able to stand up for herself. She was so tired of it all. There was nothing to do but wait and hope, the only thing that her mother could never strip her of. Her hope was the only thing that kept her going. Hope that one day her mother might change her ways. Hope of ever finding her happiness.

XxXxXxXxX

Just as Namine's mother had slammed the door shut, two red-heads walked down the stairs, one was a young teenage female, while the other was a male in his early twenties, or looked like he was. He refused to ever tell anyone his true age. Namine's mother raised an eyebrow suspiciously as they both came from upstairs. Without her permission.

"Relax, Larxene. We weren't doing anything naughty. If that's what you were thinking." The male red-head said with a bored expression followed by a yawn. His fiery and spiky hair moving slightly as he shook his head. Larxene's, Namine's mother, eyebrow never went down. "Please, I'm not a pedophile. Sheesh. I'm all yours, love." He said and smiled as innocent as he could get, which wasn't a lot.

Larxene nodded slowly. But her green-blue eyes were never void of suspicion. "I know that. But you know that if you ever cheat on me, I will hunt you down to the end of the earth and fucking rip off your balls and shave off your precious mop of shit you call hair, you got it, Axel?." She smiled sweetly and flung her arms around his neck. "You know I'm just kidding. About the hair anyways…" she muttered the last part and continued smiling sweetly at him.

He nodded stiffly and tried to squirm away from his girlfriend's grip. "Yeah, yeah. I got it memorized."

Meanwhile, the teenage redhead made a disgusted face. "EW, mom, you would really think that I would do anything with Axel? Please, mom, I have better taste and he's too old." The redhead girl shivered at the thought slightly and gave her mother another disgusted pout. Axel stuck out his tongue with a playful smirk.

"Kairi, I know you would never try anything with him or him with you. I have complete trust in both of you." The blond woman ran a hand through her slick back hair and smiled sweetly again. Two strands of hair stood up a bit no matter what the blond woman tried to do to them, they always stood out like a pair of antennae from an insect.

Kairi rolled her deep azure eyes and walked toward the kitchen to get a drink leaving her mother and her pyromaniac of a boyfriend alone. But quickly came back in case they wanted to do something right there and there. Kairi wouldn't doubt it. Without supervision they were like two sugar-high super active two years olds that had just been released from their babysitter. She was surprised to find them sitting on the couch. Just sitting far away from each other, they weren't even touching. Axel was staring off into space, maybe wondering if he could burn air. Larxene sat with her legs crossed looking tired and extremely bored. An awkward silence surrounded the three people in the living room like a thick blanket.

"So…" Kairi started twirling her shoulder length red hair on her finger. They both turned to her with even more bored expressions. "Why are you staring at me?"

"You started to say something." Axel said. Kairi stuck out her tongue at him and blushed for forgetting what she was going to say. Then she remembered that she had been talking to Axel about.

"_Are you sure you want to do that. It'll piss the hell out of your mom," Axel said in a hushed voice. He gave her a devilish smirk. "I'm in."_

_Kairi nodded cheerfully. She smiled at the redheaded pyro. He bonked her on the head and smirked when Kairi turned even redder than her hair from anger. He laughed as she lunged at him trying to claw at anything that she could, though she was aiming at his face._

_They both stopped immediately as they heard a door slam from downstairs. Axels stepped away from Kairi causing her to fall on the ground. She stood up and dusted herself quickly. Her mother would be in a terrible mood after visiting _her.

"Oh, yeah, I was going to say something." Kairi said. She bit her lower lip trying to find the right words to say it. Her mother would go against it, of course she would, but she would only say no at first.

Suddenly Axel gasped dramatically, gaining both mother's and daughter's attention. "Kairi! Don't say…" he gasped dramatically again and pretended to swoon. "That you're pregnant."

Kairi's face suddenly exploded into a blush. Axel was evil. And he was going to pay for it. If she told him to go to hell he would probably go with a happy smile. The pyro would be in his element. He would actually enjoy being in hell, with all those flames surrounding him and burning everything, even the air.

"NOOOOO!" Larxene's dramatic scream bounced off the walls of the small living room. She clutched the sides of her blond head with both hands. "I'm too young to be a grandmother! Heck, I'm too young to be a mother!"

Kairi coughed and cleared her throat and tried to make her blush go away. "No, I'm not pregnant. I'm still a vir- anyways," Kairi coughed again when Axel smirked. "I wanted to talk about my birthday."

"You're almost fourteen. You want ponies again this year?" Axel said with a playful smile. He absentmindedly fingered his upside-down black teardrop tattoos that he had under his bottle green eyes. Kairi didn't blush this time, she sent him a death glare that only made his smile become wider and wider. He definitely knew how to push her buttons.

"No, I wanted to ask you, mom, if Namine could attend my party this time." Kairi held her breath expecting her mother to burst. Larxene just sat there blinking and without any expression on her face, not even her usual bored one. Her face was void of any emotion; her eyes however were a different story. The clear green-blue color had somehow turned even icier than before, freezing away any warmth from them. She only stared blankly at her red-haired daughter. With the same icy glare that she gave Namine. It was quickly replaced with a sudden fiery hate, this time melting away the iciness. It was pure hatred… and jealousy.

Was Kairi's mother somehow, jealous of the flaxen haired young girl that was under lock and key at all times? The thought somehow made Kairi want to giggle. She wouldn't expect that. Her mother, the Savage Nymph, the cold and calculative woman that everyone was weary of, even Axel, was jealous of a little frail and fragile abused girl?

"Who's Namine?" Axel asked suddenly ending his girlfriend's death glare towards her 'only' daughter. _Oh, he's a good actor._ Kairi thought with a smug smile.

"Nobody." Larxene answered venomously, giving him a silent shut-up-and-drop-it signal.

Kairi felt bad that her blond twin wouldn't be able to enjoy their birthday again this year. "But what if we told her that she could only sit in a chair far away from everybody?"

"No." Larxene replied quickly and without hesitation. A dark and stale aura was surrounding her now.

"But-" Kairi was quickly shut by her mother's icy glare.

"Kairi. I. Said. No." Larxene got up and rubbed her temples as if she was getting a migraine. She smiled warmly, changing personalities once again in the blink of an eye. "I just don't want her to ruin things. You will always be my favorite child. I don't want her to get in the way."

Kairi smiled and then waved her hand. "Okay, mom. I get it she's a bothersome. I won't talk about her anymore."

Larxene smiled once again and kissed the top of Kairi's head. "I'm going to bed. See you in the morning." She blew a kiss towards Axel and walked slowly to the stairs.

"Want me to join you?" Axel called out. Larxene gave him a stern shake of her head and walked to her room without another word. He laughed and then sighed. He stood up slowly and shook out his red spikes. "See ya, kid." He ruffled Kairi's hair as he passed by her.

"Don't forget." She said in a barely audible whisper.

"Got it all memorized. Don't worry; you're too young to worry. You'll get wrinkles that way." he winked and closed the front door. Kairi breathed out a long and heavy sigh. It would take a lot to convince her mother but Kairi would get her to change her mind about Namine. But if she wasn't able to there was always plan B with Axel.

XxXxXxXxX

Namine felt her heart break as she heard Kairi say those words. _Okay, mom. I get it she's a bothersome. Okay, mom. I get it she's a bothersome. Okay, mom. I get it she's a bothersome._ The words kept on echoing inside her head. Kairi… had betrayed her. Her own twin sister. The sister that had given Namine her art supplies. The same one that had snuck into her room to tell her of the day's events at school. A magical place that Namine would never get to see or go to. The same sister that told her one year how icky boys were then the next how she thought her boyfriend was a god. Her sister was a traitor. She had been playing with Namine's emotions all this time, just like their mother had.

Namine took out her sketchbook and turned the pages hurriedly, trying to locate the picture she had been so proud of and showed Kairi, she wanted to find it before her eyes began to water and made her vision blurry. She found it after turning many pages and stared at the picture of the red headed, azure eyed beauty she had drawn a few weeks ago. She grabbed a black marker from her stash and crossed out the eyes with quick and sure flicks of her wrists.

A tear dropped on the page, smearing the still fresh x's on the picture. Namine wiped the tears away from her eyes and wrote a single word in plain black letters with the marker. She smiled at the word.

**DIE**


	2. Bloody Knives

**Chapter 2: Bloody Knives**

Namine woke up with a start as someone poked her cheek. Her vision cleared a bit and she saw her sister smiling down on her. Kairi's red almost brown hair shone like a halo around her head making her even more beautiful. Namine felt that stab at her frail heart. Her sister was so much better than her at everything, from being loved a lot more by their mother to being prettier. Kairi was the one with everything. She had friends, her boyfriend, her mother's love, her good looks and charm, her freedom. And Namine was starting to hate her for it. Would their mother have loved Namine if Kairi had not been born? Would their mother be happier if Namine had not been born?

Namine started laughing, a sad and bitter laugh, startling Kairi a bit. Namine suddenly stopped. She turned to her sister and glared at her. Kairi flinched as she felt her younger twin's glare. She couldn't see it in the darkness but she could feel it. Something was wrong with Namine. Kairi could see the outline of Namine's shoulders. They were slumped stiffly in defeat. An aura of pure hatred was emanating from her like waves from a fire, making things around the flame look blurry and disorienting.

"Namine? Are you alright?" Kairi placed a hand on Namine's shoulders. They started shaking; Namine's whole body was trembling. A short and sharp noise sounded through the small closet-like room as Namine's hand made contact with Kairi's face. Kairi's eyes widened as her face turned to the right by the force. Her hand fell from Namine's shoulder and cradled her bruising cheek. Her cheek hurt, a lot. But not as much as the hurt she was feeling in her heart. Namine… had just… slapped her. The shy and artistic Namine. The polite girl that never spoke until Kairi was finished had just… slapped her. It felt like someone had just sliced her heart with a dagger.

Namine suddenly stood up. She ran to the door and swung it open, making it slam into the wall. Kairi's eyes widen a lot more at the flaxen haired girl's sudden boldness.

Namine didn't care if she had woken up her mother with her rash and loud opening of the door. She ran to the kitchen. She heard an angry shriek resonate from her mother's room. The girl's aching heart pounded even more against her rib cage, her energy lagging due to the lack of food and water, she felt her chest rise and fall in unsteady and raspy breaths. The girl was not used to any running. She was so skinny and lacked any proper nutrition in her system. A sudden light headiness erupted in her brain, blurring her vision a bit. Namine took a deep breath and searched through the kitchen's cabinets as fast as she could. Angry shrieks and swear words were being thrown out by her mother as if they were normal words.

She couldn't find them. They weren't there. What kind of kitchen didn't have them? They had to be around there somewhere. She just had to keep looking for them. Now the shrieks had seized but the cursing was still being called out as Namine opened and slammed shut the drawers and cabinets of the kitchen with loud thuds and thunks. Now her mother was stomping down the stairs and towards the kitchen. Namine's heartbeat increased tenfold and could practically be heard over her slamming of the drawers. Then she spotted one. On the sink. A few feet away. Just as her hand was about two inches away from it a screech was heard from the door way that led to the living room.

"WHAT IN THE FUCK'S NAME ARE YOU DOING OUT OF YOUR ROOM?" Larxene screeched at the top of her lungs probably waking several neighbors. She then saw what Namine was reaching for and sneered. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned on the doorway.

Namine grasped the handle of the knife. She held it so tightly as if her mother would spring at any second and take it away. Her pale knuckles becoming even whiter and whiter from the strained force she was putting on them. Her palm was getting warmer and extremely sweaty. Namine could feel her somewhat wavy hair stick to the back of her neck and face as she broke into a cold sweat.

"What do you plan on doing with that?" Larxene asked with a smirk and a flick of her extremely bad bed hair. "Murder all of us? You would kill your own sister? Your own mother?" Larxene yawned rather forcefully and turned her back to Namine. "You wouldn't do that. You're too much of a coward."

Namine hung her head. She was a coward but... "No," Namine said slowly, feeling it roll of her tongue, using for the first time since she could remember towards her mother. "I-I won't k-kill anyone…"

Larxene's smile quickly turned into a frown as she saw what the small girl was doing. Namine had closed her eyes tightly and was holding the knife over her wrist with a trembling hand. "… But myself." She finished as she sliced through the skin. The knife fell to the floor with a clattering sound but Larxene was too busy looking at the crazy girl's maimed wrist to notice. Larxene erupted into fits of laughter. The girl had some guts at least; she just didn't use them very much.

Namine felt the lightness in her head clear for a moment as her brain registered the pain on her wrist. The ragged line on her wrist had long been covered with blood. Her blood. She felt the lightness settle in again, her knees felt weaker and she could see black dots in her vision now. She didn't even feel the pain as her head collided with the kitchen tile. She could see some of the red flowers her blood drops had created when they had fallen from her wrist and the knife and onto the crisp white tile. She could still hear her mother's crazed laughter and the fading thump, thump of her frail heart. She was nearing the end. But she didn't feel happy… she felt… empty.

_Thump, thump…_

A bit more for the end.

_Thump…. Thump…_

She could feel death getting closer and closer. It was almost there.

_Thump….. Silence_

It was here.

XxXxXxXxX

And then Namine died. The end.

Nah, just kidding, if I killed off Namine there wouldn't be much of a story now would there?

XxXxXxXxX

Namine woke up with a throbbing pain on the side of her head. _What happened?_ She thought. Then she remembered what she had done. The memory of the knife against her wrist suddenly ran through her mind. She remembered hearing her heart stop… so why was she there? Was she a ghost? Did ghosts even feel anything at all? She felt the pain on the side of her face and on her wrist. No she couldn't feel any pain on her wrist anymore. Namine tried to peer through the darkness at her wrist. A deep scar ran across her wrist. It looked like it had been done years before instead of the night before. Namine gasped. It wasn't possible. It was completely healed, yet she remembered she had cut deep enough that she could feel the knife touch the bone.

Namine trace her index finger on the newly grown skin. It wasn't normal. But Namine had never been normal. But this was ridiculous. People did not revive from near death. And if she did, why would her mother have let her live. Her mother had let her live even though she hated Namine with all her might. Yet she was still alive. That made no sense to Namine. Wasn't she just a bothersome? A rat? A Nobody?

Namine smiled wearily and fell back asleep feeling something new bubble up inside of her. Her hope rose high and her shriveled heart grew a bit. She smiled again before closing her eyes. She felt content. Then she remembered the pain that her twin had caused her and finally drove her to bloody up the knife. She sat up and grabbed her red marker. She felt around the dark room until she found the white wall. She didn't need any light to write her feelings.

The red ink shone eerily from the white light emanating from the window from the moon. The words made her insides feel even worse. She wrote the exact same thing that she had written under the picture she had drawn of Kairi but this time she had added a few new words.

Namine looked at her wrists and bit at her nails until they were sharp and ragged. She clawed at her arm until it was nothing more than a bloody mess of torn skin and muscles. She held in the screams of pain she felt. She watched as her muscles reattached themselves and her blood seeped back into her wound. Soon, there was nothing to show what she had done to herself but the pink hue of the skin that she had now on her arm that had formed as a scar.

That definitely wasn't normal. She glanced at the wall that she had written on and reread what she had written. She wanted it to happen. She wanted it to come true.

On the wall, scarlet letters expressed the poor girl's feelings. It said: I WANT TO DIE.

Namine felt her eyes water again. "Unfortunately, I can't." she muttered and then lowered her head turning away from the wall. She couldn't die. She definitely couldn't die. She was a freak. A freak that could never escape her fate.


	3. Star that locate

**A/N Sorry for the late update but I won't be able to actually be able to update as often as I would like, mostly because I don't own a computer with internet so I have to post it from my cousin's house and I don't really like to go just for posting other chapters but don't worry for those that read but don't review, I will not give up on this story. So sorry for the lateness, and please review, so on to the story.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything of kingdom hearts other than a t-shirt and a few games and this seemingly pointless plot.**

**Chapter 3: Stars That Locate**

_Right after Namine had cut her wrist…_

Kairi rushed to the kitchen, almost knocking half the furniture in the living room as she ran. She could still hear her mother laughing at something. Larxene only laughed like that right after she had done something to Namine. And only if it was something really bad. The last time Kairi had heard her laugh like that was when Larxene had made Namine take a bath in the middle of winter with water so cold it practically had ice on it while the heater was off. Kairi remembered how sick Namine had been after she had gone into the frozen tub of death. Namine had had a fever that didn't stop until a day and a half later.

Kairi gasped at the sight of blood. A bad taste in her mouth suddenly appeared and her stomach was doing backflips and frontflips, twisting around in itself and she felt the steak she had for dinner wanting to rise up again and exit through her mouth. And when she saw Namine bleeding to death on the ground, the food actually did. Kairi wiped her mouth with the back of her sleeve when she was done retching. Her body had suddenly broken into cold sweat and her knees felt as hard as Jell-O.

Namine was dying and Larxene just stood there laughing her ass off, as if watching one of her daughters die was the best entertainment ever. Right there was when Kairi realized that her mother really didn't give a shit for either of them because if Namine died it would be like killing Kairi too. Larxene could go on pretending to love but all that the woman really loved was herself. The woman would have no problem on killing off her daughters.

That terrified Kairi. Sure, Larxene had acted nice and caring around Kairi but when she was with Namine it was as if all motherly and everything warmth thing was sucked away from the woman. She would be a hard, cold stone that cared for nothing but the suffering of Namine.

Kairi ran towards Namine. A giant gash ran across her wrist, a big pool of crimson was forming under her hand. Kairi covered her mouth as she saw her sister's injury close and heal before her eyes. Larxene at that moment had stopped laughing and had gone back to her room, leaving Kairi with the dying Namine. Kairi racked her brain trying to remember what she had learned in the emergency and safety classes she had taken. She couldn't call the police; she didn't want to go to a foster home. The only other person who knew about Namine and who could really help was Axel.

Kairi ran to the phone and dialed his number. After the seventh ring a groggy voice picked up.

"What is it Kai. It's fucken two in the morning." Axel said with a tired yawn. Kairi explained or tried to explain to Axel what had happened as fast as she could, stumbling over words as she went so she had to repeat some of the things that she had seen.

"Just come over Axel! I'm freaking out!" Kairi screamed into the phone.

"You don't say." Axel said sarcastically. "I'll be there in ten minutes. In the time being clean up some of the blood on the wound, put a bandage or a towel or something to stop some of the blood flow."

Kairi glanced at Namine's wrist again. "That's the thing Axel. There is no wound. I mean there was but not anymore. It healed."

She heard Axel sigh from the other side of the line. He sounded tired and exasperated, like it was too early to deal with that kind of crap, which it was really, really early. "I'm on my car, just wait."

Kairi heard him hang up and stood there shifting from foot to foot and then remembered that Axel had told her to clean up some of the blood. Kairi put her red hair up in a messy bun and grabbed some bleach, towels, and a mop. She moved Namine to the living room even though she herself got covered with blood. Just as Axel had said, he was there in ten minutes. He spotted Namine on the living room floor and raised an eyebrow when he saw her white, now crimson, blood covered knee length dress.

Kairi had been right. A pink line ran across her wrist, as if she had cut herself a few days prior and had now completely healed. That was strange, definitely but Namine looked even scarier while covered with blood even if it was her own and her skin had turned a deathly pale color from the loss of blood.

Axel arrived at the kitchen, stepping over the blood. Kairi was cleaning up the blood with a bleach covered mop. The stench of the chemical was so strong that it made both of the red-head's eyes water and their noses burn. Axel kneelt down next to Kairi and set to work to help the younger redhead clean up the bloody mess. It was a mystery to Axel how Kairi had remained so calmed cleaning up. Maybe it was because she was too tired to be panicking again.

When they were finally finished it was past three in the morning and both redheads were tired and grumpy. Kairi looked over to Namine's direction. The blond was resting on the cold floor of the living room. Kairi still had to help her sister clean up. She turned to Axel. He smirked and picked up the blond bridal style and carried her into the bathroom. He set her on the lid of the toilet and left without another word, leaving Kairi to take care of her sister.

Locking the door shut, Kairi helped her sister get cleaned up and gave her one of her own dresses to replace the ruined one that Namine had been wearing. After the blood was gone and Namine was cleaned up, Axel came back in and took her back into Namine's room. Kairi scratched the back of her head and sighed wearily. It had been a long day and an even longer night. Axel left the house with on last nod. Kairi didn't respond she just nodded. It was getting out of control and the abuse had to stop. Kairi had made up her mind. Plan B with Axel would officially begin on that instant.

Kairi walked straight into a wall and smacked her forehead, earning a baseball-sized bruise, as she was going up to her room. Or as soon as she had some sleep.

XxXxXxXxX

Kairi fell asleep before her red head even hit her pink pillows. Her mind along with her body felt like it had been filled with lead. She was so tired and she knew that she would have another weird dream. She always did whenever she crashed from exhaustion. Shiny colors and swirly shapes took control of her mind, transporting her into her dreamland. Kairi let the flashing glittery shapes take her to where ever it wanted to take her that night.

She arrived at a place she remembered well. It had been long ago, but she remembered the place where she had lived before. She looked down from the place when was floating at the small cabin that she had lived her entire childhood with her mother and Namine. It had been those days when her mother had not been abusive towards Namine. There were small trees and shrubs surrounding the old wooden cabin that Kairi and Namine had planted when they were three. Kairi smiled at the memory.

She was in her mother's embrace and Namine at her side too. They were both sitting on their mother's lap and stared at the dark, black star spotted sky. It was the night they had turned four. And they were too hyper from eating too much birthday cake and ice cream. Namine was smiling and laughing. That was the last time that Namine had laughed. Kairi pointed at the sky and giggled as a shooting star crossed the sky.

"Do you see those shiny things on the sky?" their mother asked. Both Kairi and Namine nodded. "Those are called stars; they say that each star is a different world. And in each world there are different and unique people that are strange and look very strange compared to us. They have to stay separated from us of course, there was once a boy though, a boy who's now nothing more than a legend along with his best friends, that traveled throughout these worlds more than four hundred years ago just to find his friends. Then his best friend took a wrong path. He lost his way in the beginning but his best friend, the real hero helped him regain who he was and helped him go home."

"Did he find his other friends, mommy?" Namine asked surprising Kairi. Namine was always shy and rarely talked.

Their mother laughed. Kairi hadn't heard her laugh in a long time, not since their father had left. All Kairi remembered about their father was the red hair and the green eyes but that was all, she couldn't remember his name no matter how hard she tried. The only thing their mother told them about him was how much the girls reminded her of their father because of the amount of Sea-salt ice cream they could consume without feeling sick.

"Oh, he did, they found him though. His best friend had to beat some sense into him to get him back. If your great grandfather hadn't returned home you wouldn't be here dear." their mother said with such honeyed voice that it didn't sound fake or forced. Kairi looked up and gasped. The woman holding her wasn't the same one that she was living with. It wasn't Larxene. This woman had black, almost bluish hair that reached up to her chin and dark cerulean eyes that complimented the woman's pale skin.

Kairi felt the colors and swirly shapes tugging on her body, taking her away from the strange woman's grasp. Kairi could hear the woman crying out for the colors to stop taking her daughter but the woman's pleas were lost in the dazzling swirls of colors.

Kairi woke up and realized that she had been crying. She had no idea who the woman was but it felt like Kairi should talk to that woman for some reason. The memory of the dream was still fresh and the words of the woman too. Kairi looked out the window and wiped the tears away. Outside her window, on the sky, there were millions of worlds that her (many) great grandfather had visited (and had tried to destroy). Kairi looked for the biggest star, when she finally found it she pointed at it and repeated the exact same words the woman had told her. "There are many worlds, but they share the same sky – one sky, one destiny." Kairi closed her hand as if she was holding on to the star. "But do not fret, for as however long it takes, for however many worlds I will search through, I will find you both."


	4. The Boy With Spiky Hair

**Chapter 4: The Boy with the Spiky Hair**

Namine felt like vomiting from all the pain she was feeling on her arms. she had furiously scratched at her arm, ripping out skin and blood but each time she did her arms would close up and a new patch of pink skin would surface which only made her want to repeat the whole process again. Namine didn't notice that she had been doing the same thing over and over again and it was now morning. Namine finally stopped when exhaustion overtook her. She fell asleep and woke up suddenly when the door to her small room flew open.

A tall figure with red spiky hair stood on the door. "Hey," it called out. "Thought you wanted something to eat."

Namine hung her head, she was in fact starving. But her mother was the one who usually brought her the food or Kairi when her mother forgot, which was 85% of the time. Namine shook her head. Her mother would kill, or try to kill her if she went out of her room.

"Your mom isn't here if that's what's worrying you. She left with Kairi to get the things for the girl's party." The figure told her with a smirk. Namine glared at him suspiciously. He had a kind of aura around him that told her to be weary of him.

"There's nobody to stop you from leaving this room, or the house. There is absolutely nobody here." the figure said who now Namine recognized as Axel, Larxene's newest boyfriend, number eight. There had been eight before him, some had been older and a particular blue-silver head emo looking guy had been younger than her.

"So are you too afraid to leave?" Axel said with another one of his trademark smirk, breaking Namine from her train of thought.

Namine shook her head and bit her lower lip. She stood up and walked towards the door. She gave him a weak smile before crushing him with a hug. Axel was caught off guard and squirmed uncomfortably and was surprised that such a small girl had such a strong grip.

"The name's Axel, got it memorized?" he said after the girl let him go.

Namine nodded and smiled but this time she gave him a confident smile. "Thank you… Axel." And with that she left the house.

"Better make this count, or plan B goes straight down the drain." Axel said after Namine was long gone. Axel smirked once again and left the house before Larxene came home and murdered him.

XxXxXxXxX

Namine didn't bother to run. She knew how long it would be until her mother returned home. It would be hours and with Kairi along with Larxene they would probably return the next day. Namine on the other hand planned on never returning but the thing now was what she would do now. She had no money, or food, or even a place to sleep. So what to do-

Namine crashed into someone causing both to fall. Namine sat up and looked at the person she had crashed into. It was a boy with brown spiky hair and deep azure eyes that resembles the color of the ocean. Namine found herself blushing; she had never made any type of contact with any boy her age. The hug with Axel had been brief and it had been like hugging a brother or cousin but crashing into a cute boy was something different.

The boy sat up quickly and gave Namine a worried look. "Are you okay? I'm sorry for crashing into you."

Namine shook her head and blushed a deeper red. The poor girl had never been told about hormones and puberty. "I-it was my f-fault. I w-wasn't looking… I-I'm sorry."

The brunette stood up and blushed too. He noticed how pretty the flaxen haired girl was. He held out his tanned hand towards the girl. She flinched as if he was going to hit her. The girl had never known what an act of manners was.

After a few moments, Namine timidly took the boy's hand and stood up. She brushed off the dirt from her white dress. She realized that she was wearing a different dress. The one she had been wearing before was a simple white dress that reached to her knees but this one was different, it showed the curves of her slim body and complimented her pale skin.

The spiky haired boy noticed the scars on her arms and stared at them. The more he looked the more they seem to disappear, as if they were spots of dirt that were being washed away by the rain. Soon the pink scars were gone and what remained was only perfect pale skin.

Namine noticed him staring at her arm and hastily tried to cover it with her free hand, and ended up hitting his hand. She apologized and waited for him to hit her like Larxene had after she did something wrong.

The boy started laughing at the girl's weird behavior. It was strange that the girl was acting that way. Most girls he met would bow down before him much to his annoyance and kiss up to him but this girl was acting as if everything and everyone was going to hurt her.

Namine was hurt that this stranger was laughing at her without really knowing anything about her.

"I'm Sora Leonhart." The boy told her with a dazzling smile.

Namine looked down at her bare feet and hid her blushing face underneath her blond hair. She felt awkward and weird talking to the Sora boy. It had never happened when she spoke to Kairi or the few moments that she spoke with Axel.

"I-I'm N-N-Na-Na" Sora tapped her on the back and made her say the rest of her name. "Namine!"

Suddenly a deep growl emanated from Namine's stomach, causing her to flush once again. Sora smiled and held on to her hand.

"W-where are you taking me?" Namine asked as Sora dragged her along.

"To my house. I'm sure your parents won't mind you going to my place for lunch… err, breakfast? Whatever," Sora winked and chuckled when he saw Namine's face to become even redder.

Namine let herself be dragged to wherever the boy said. She was starving and it was clouding her mind. Plus nobody ever told her what Stranger Danger was or where to kick if a man ever got… that way.

A few minutes later they arrived at a big house. Calling it a house was an understatement, it was huge almost as big as a mansion. It was bright blue with white Greek-like pillars on the front supporting the roof and a giant marble fountain that had several babies with tiny wings and bow and arrows spewing water from their mouths. Namine felt her mouth drop to the ground. It was just so big.

Sora didn't say anything at all. He watched Namine's reaction with amusement. Most people did get that reaction when they saw his house. But most shrugged it off and walked right in. Namine was different. She acted like she had never seen a house like that before, not even on a TV, since she hadn't as she had not been allowed to watch it.

"c'mon." Sora urged her to continue walking. He tugged on her arm, snapping her out of her reaction. She walked slowly as if there was a monster inside the house waiting to devour her. Namine walked slowly and unsure of what to do. She rarely went outside her room, and it was even rarer for her to go outside of the house so her skin wasn't used to the sun, even if the sun was just rising and not even that hot just yet. But her skin was already red and itchy.

A young woman with short brown hair dressed in a maid's outfit greeted them with a bow. She eyed Namine and giggled when she noticed that Sora holding her hand.

"Sup, Selphie. You think you could get us into the kitchen without Mom or Dad noticing?" Sora said with a smile. The maid, Selphie, giggled again and nodded but before they could go ahead to the kitchen a loud and commanding voice suddenly bellowed.

"SORA!" a man called out from above. He walked calmly down the stairs but his deep blue eyes gave away his anger. He looked a lot like Sora but his hair was not spiked up but parted and went down.

"What's up dad?" Sora chuckled nervously.

"Why aren't you in school?" Sora's dad bellowed causing Namine to shrink behind Sora. Sora's father noticed her for the first time and glared at his son. "You brought a girl home? What were you planning to do?"

Sora turned a deep red. Namine wondered what Sora's father meant by 'planning to do'. "D-dad, it's not like that. I wasn't planning to do anything! She looked lost and-"

"So you picked up a girl from the streets and dragged her here? Don't you know that's called kidnapping?!" Sora's dad screamed almost busting both of the teenager's eardrums.

Namine bowed her head and felt her body tremble. Both Sora and his dad noticed. She was getting agitated by their screams. Namine felt her eyes fill up with tears and threatened to erupt at any moment. A woman walked over to her and surprised Namine. She hadn't heard the woman walk in.

"You look sick. When was the last time you ate, hon?" the woman asked. Namine looked up and met the woman's black eyes. The woman sighed and patted her blond head. "Has it been a long time?"

Namine nodded and to make her point her stomach rumbled.

"Rinoa, she's not a dog that we can keep." Sora's father said with an authoritative voice. "She's a human being-" he shut his mouth once he saw his wife's glare. She raised an eyebrow daring him to talk back to her.

"Squall, don't ever tell me what I can already see." Rinoa warned with a stern expression. She crossed her arms across her chest and gave her husband an even more intimidating glare.

"It's Leon." He muttered. Rinoa turned and glowered at him once again, causing him to lose his courage and shut up again.

"So, are you his girlfriend?" Rinoa asked Namine with a smile. Namine tilted her head in confusion. She had no idea what a girlfriend was but it sounded like something that Namine wasn't supposed to be.

"Are you a hooker?" Squall-Leon- asked. That sounded like it was even worse than being a girlfriend. Namine shook her head hurriedly.

Rinoa shot her husband another glare. He flinched and looked away, sweat dropping. Leon walked closer to Namine and held out his hand. Namine hid behind Sora in case he wanted to hurt her. He smiled forcefully and urged her to shake his hand. Namine shakily took his hand and shook it.

"I'm Leon. This is my son Sora and my wife Rinoa." He said pointing to them. He leaned in closer and whispered to her. "So are you sure you're not a hooker?"

Rinoa pulled him back from his hair. "Do you want that cherished scar of yours to be crossed out by another one?" Rinoa said with a sweet and innocent smile. He shook his head and gulped nervously. He touched the scar that ran across his nose and in between his eyes protectively.

"I-I'm not one, Mr. Leon. I don't know what a h-hooker is. I'm just Namine, sir" Namine said nervously. She put a strand of her straw colored hair behind her ear and smiled anxiously. He eyed her like she was from another planet. She blushed and mumbled a barely audible apology.

"Where are your parents?" Sora asked, suddenly reminding them that he was in the room too and that he was still holding onto Namine's hand.

Larxene's face suddenly flashed across Namine's mind. But Larxene had never considered Namine as a daughter so why should Namine be considering her as a mother when she had never acted 'motherly' towards her? It would be better if she told them that she had no one. When she did, she received a lot of 'you poor thing' from Rinoa and some 'seriously?'s from Leon.

Namine's stomach grumbled again causing everyone to stop their talking and look her way. Rinoa giggled and led her to the kitchen.

Leon turned back to his son and asked him once again. "Are you sure she's not a hooker?"

Sora face palmed and followed Rinoa and Namine without answering his dad.

XxXxXxXxX

Namine ate slowly when Rinoa ordered the chef to cook something for her. The chef was a woman with brown-black hair and eyes. She resembled Rinoa a lot. Rinoa told Namine that the woman's name was Tifa Lockhart and that they were step-sisters. Then Rinoa started saying some things about her other son Vanitas and how he was in school like a good boy. Namine wasn't really listening. She was more interested on eating the food than listening to the woman rant about random things.

Sora walked into the kitchen and smiled cheerfully. Rinoa bonked him on the head and told him to go to school.

"But moooommm," Sora whined, "school started about an hour ago."

"So? Get to school now! There are about five hours left of school. You will not be ditching school under my watch, you hear?" Rinoa dragged him out the door and practically kicked him out. "I better get a notification from the principal that you got detention for arriving late, and not from ditching, young man."

She slammed the door shut in his face before he could respond. Sora obediently followed his mother's order and went to school, much to his annoyance and the teacher he interrupted when he arrived for class.

Namine felt edgy and uncomfortable being around so many people. She had never been with so many people willing to do things for her. It felt nice. Namine felt tears spring into her eyes. In less than a second, she was sobbing uncontrollably.

"Namine, hon, what's wrong? Is the food that bad?" Rinoa asked worriedly, earning a 'hey, I heard that' from Tifa. "What is it?"

Namine tried to keep back the tears but there were so many and they had been bottled up for far too long. Namine flinched as she felt Rinoa's arm embrace her in a warm hug. Namine flung her skinny arms around the woman's torso and cried into her shoulder. Namine wondered if that was what if felt like when your mother comforted you. Rinoa patted her head and made strange but comforting noises.

Namine finally regained her poise and wiped the tears dry.

"Are you better?" Rinoa patted her head once again. Namine sniffed and then nodded.

Namine smiled and then remembered about her drawings. She had left them at her room. Her heart felt like a thousand trucks had just run over it, squashing it into pudding. All the drawings she had done were gone. She couldn't go back to get them. She had no idea how to go back. Sora had dragged her to his house and she hadn't bothered to look where they were going. There was also the issue of not knowing her house address.

Namine wouldn't be able to live without drawing. She would die. Drawing was like Namine's food and water; she could go on without them for a while but would eventually die because of the lack of nourishment.

Rinoa noticed her mood again and asked her what was wrong. Namine responded with a simple, "my drawings."

Rinoa stayed quiet for a while thinking of something. "Why don't you just use some of the art supplies that we have in the art room? I'm sure you'll find something that you can use."

Namine felt tears come to her eyes. She felt happy that this woman was helping her and feeding her and even giving her time to check out their art supplies but Namine knew that there was no way that she would be with them. She was just a stranger to them. Now Namine truly had no one. She would have to leave and starve on the streets. She had no idea what she would have to do for shelter. A bone-chilling fear gripped her chest like a suffocating blanket causing her to feel panic. Her breath came out in short and raspy breaths. She couldn't breathe. Namine felt the world tilt and then it went completely black.


End file.
